Lioness in a Snake's Den
by teddy-bear-220
Summary: How far would you go to save a family member? Would you spend your whole life as a lie to save someone you loved? This is a story of how far a sister would go to save her brother. Along the way there is love, friendship, danger, and hope.
1. Chapter 1

A small girl stood with a group of eleven year olds waiting to be sorted into their houses at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. When her name was called, she silently walked up to the stool and sat with the hat on her head. The entire hall sat silently waiting for the word to spill from the hat of where this girl would be for the next seven years. As the minutes passed, many began to worry. It had never taken this long for a student to be placed. Finally the hat yelled out the word that many had been waiting for: SLYTHERIN!

"Move." The one word slipped from between red lips. Even though the girl was only twelve she was already beautiful. Her pale skin contrasted with her dark hair that fell in curls around her face. Her blue eyes were framed by thick lashes and her lips were full. At the moment she was glaring at a group of four boys that were blocking her path. She was clasping the hand of a smaller boy who was the opposite of her in almost every way. The little boy was blonde with brown eyes and while he was still pale he wasn't as pale as the girl.

One of the boys in the group sneered at her and her green robes. "Why should we Strauss?" One of the boys in the group, however, was looking at her wishing things could be different. Wishing that she didn't come from one of the oldest pureblood families in the country. Wishing that he wasn't what he was. Wishing she didn't wear the green on her robes.

"Black get out of my way." This sentence came out as more of growl. When none of the boys moved, the girl muttered a spell that caused the boys of fly to the walls. With her head held high the girl walked by pulling the boy along with her. "See Matthew, some people just don't have manners."

After brushing themselves off the four boys walked into their compartment on the train. The boy that had spoken in the hall, Sirius Black, flopped onto one of the seats and groaned. "Fuck Evelyn Strauss. Who does she think she is?"

"She was just trying to get through." Remus Lupin, a sandy blonde haired boy with hazel eyes, mumbled.

"She could have gotten around us. Why do you always defend her Moony?" Sirius looked at his friend with an eyebrow raised. Remus shrugged.

"I think you pick on her and she doesn't always deserve it." Remus whispered. The other two boys in the compartment, James Potter and Peter Petergriew, were watching the discussion like it was a ping-pong game.

"Doesn't deserve it? Do you know who her family is? They're pureblood fanatics. Think they're better just because of their blood. Wouldn't be surprised if they were bloody death eaters. And she's in Slytherin so she's just like them."

"How do you know? She could be different from them. You're different from your family."

"Yea well I haven't seen her do anything different from her family. Her brother she was tagging along will probably be just like her." With that Sirius ended the conversation on Evelyn Strauss. The boys spent the remainder of the train ride playing games and discussing pranks they would pull that year.

"Remember I love you no matter what." Evelyn hugged her brother before pushing him off towards the boats that the first years rode. Turning she found a carriage with some of the other students from her house. She didn't speak on the ride up; she wasn't very fond of any of the classmates she was forced to live with. She spent most of her time silent while she was at school. She followed her housemates and sat at the Slytherin table waiting for the sorting ceremony to begin. She was more excited for this day than she had been for her own sorting. She had known where she would end up, it was inevitable. But her little brother was different. HE would be the one to get out of their crazy family. HE would be the one shining thing in her life.

Soon the first years filed into the room. Evelyn watched as Matthew crossed the hall and waited for his name to be called. She was practically bouncing out of her seat when his name was finally called. The sorting hat was barely on his head before it yelled out "GRYFINDOR!" The hall was quiet as he walked to the table, except for Evelyn. Evelyn had jumped out of her seat and was cheering as her brother walked to a better life.

"Behave yourself this year young lady. We don't want any more…..embarrassments this year do we?" My mother said sparing my brother a glare when she said embarrassment. I wanted to roll my eyes but I didn't. I just briefly nodded my head. Holding my head high I swiftly left my mother and boarded the train. This year I was going to be a sixth year and a prefect. My parents were thrilled. Well, thrilled in their way. My brother followed behind me without as much as a glance at our mother. Once the train started moving, we found a compartment together. I slumped into a seat and rolled my shoulders.

"Being stuck up really puts knots in your shoulders." I said smiling for the first time since we left school last year. Matthew laughed as he lounged in the seat across from me.

"I'm glad you can pull your head out of your ass now." He smiled and putting his hands behind his head, leaned back against the window. I smacked him on the arm before pulling out my book to read. Before long though, an annoyance walked into our peaceful compartment.

"Sup Matt! Strauss." Sirius Black barely looked at me before slinging his arm around Matthew and doing some weird guy welcome thing. I rolled my eyes as the rest of the Marauders filled up the compartment.

"How was your summer?" James asked. I tried to tune out the rest of their discussion. However, like usual, it didn't work. With a sigh I gathered my things and headed for the door.

"E where are you going?" Matthew asked. I looked at him and rolled my eyes.

"As much as I would love to sit here with you and your little blood traitor friends I have better things to do with my time." I then turned and walked down to the prefects compartment. I had a meeting here later anyway so I might as well sit here and read.

"God Matt your sister is a bitch with a capital b." Sirius said glaring at the door where Evelyn had just stood.

"Don't talk about my sister." Matt growled out.

"I really don't know how you deal with her though. I thought Regulus was bad." Sirius said.

"I said drop it Sirius." Matt said.

"He's right though Matt. We've been in classes with her for six years and I don't think I've ever seen her smile." James said trying to put a serious thinking face on.

"You guys don't know her." Matt whispered.

"Don't know her? I don't need to know her. She's a blood purist and she has a stick up her ass. That's all I need to know." Sirius said putting his feet up on the seat across from him.

"My sister has put up with more shit and has done more for me than anyone else in the world. So say one more thing about her and I will make sure it's the last thing you say." Matt said holding his wand out ready to fight. James and Sirius held up their hands giving up.

"Calm down man. Sorry." Sirius grinned. "Even if she is evil at least she's hot." Matt punched him in the arm. No one noticed Remus's hands clench into fists.

"Hey Remus you got made prefect? So did Evelyn." Matt said smiling noticing the badge on Remus's robes. Remus felt his heart stop.

"Uh….yea. Actually I have to go to the meeting now." Remus almost sprinted out of the compartment to head to the prefect compartment.

"Hello Evelyn." I looked up from my book to see the other Slytherin prefect enter the compartment. His name is Anthony Dunn and he would be attractive if he wasn't so…..how do I say this nicely? Terrible. He's mediocre in class and he's awful to talk to. He thinks he's a gift to women.

"Hello Anthony." I said trying to return to reading my book. No such luck.

"You're looking lovely as ever. Have a nice summer?" Anthony sat as close as he could without actually touching me. I forced a grin onto my face.

"As nice of a summer as you can have when you have a blood traitor for a brother and have to share a house with him." Anthony smiled at me and put his hand on my knee.

"I'm sorry you have to put up with that." He squeezed my knee and I grimaced. "I'm excited for this chance to work together. Now we can get closer." He moved closer. My heartbeat was starting to pick up. I didn't like how close he was getting or the look in his eyes. But just when I thought I was going to have to reach for my wand, the door opened and in walked Remus Lupin.

"What do you want Lupin?" Anthony said glaring at the intruder. I slid away from him trying to steady my heart.

"The meeting is going to start soon." Was Lupin's quiet reply. He walked in and sat across from me. Anthony once again slid up to me and this time he put his arm around my shoulders. I rolled my eyes behind my book. Soon the rest of the prefects filed in and the meeting started. We talked about the rules and how patrols would work. Then before the meeting was called to an end the Head Boy and Girl read off the list of partners.

"This is the person you'll be patrolling with this year. Unless a change needs to be made for a serious reason, these are permanent so don't try to switch." The Head Boy said giving us all stern looks. "We'll be patrolling together." He said pointing to himself and the Head Girl. "Then Dunn will be with Flowers." The Ravenclaw girl prefect groaned at her luck. "Evans is with Jordan." The Gryffindor girl prefect and the Hufflepuff boy smiled at each other. "Rivers and Phillips." The Hufflepuff girl and the Ravenclaw boy nodded at each other. "And finally Lupin and Strauss." I looked over at Remus. He looked like he was having trouble breathing. I gave him a weird look but then shook my head. It was probably nothing.

I couldn't believe my luck. Evelyn Strauss was going to be my patrolling partner for the whole year. I know my friends have never liked her, but I see things they don't see. I've seen her stop to help a scared first year lost in the dungeons. I've seen her help her brother with something he doesn't understand on homework. And I remember her cheering for him when he was sorted into Gryffindor. I knew she was different.

I was thinking about all of this as I was walking back to the compartment when I felt someone tap on my shoulder. I spun around and came face to face with my crush. Evelyn stood there, her curls falling perfectly around her shoulders. I must have stood there with a goofy look on my face because she coughed and shuffled her feet before I snapped out of it and cleared my throat.

"Yes Strauss?" I stammered out.

"Look I wanted to thank you for coming in when you did. I know you didn't mean to but you kind of saved me from Dunn. And I wanted you to know, I know you probably think I'm horrible but I'll try to be nice since your friends with my brother." She gave me a half smile and held her hand out. I shook her hand and pulled it away quickly from the electricity that flowed through my body. She must have felt it too, because her cheeks seemed to redden.

"But….uh….don't think I like you blood traitor. We're not friends." A glare returned to her face and she swiftly turned and went back to the compartment. A small smile tugged at my lips. This was going to be an interesting year.


	2. Chapter 2

The first day of class is my favorite day of the year. I know, I'm weird. But I love getting my new schedule and the possibilities that the year holds. This year I had quite the course load: potions, transfiguration, charms, history of magic, ancient runes, defense against the dark arts, and care of magical creatures. I ate a quick breakfast before heading off to my first class of the day. As I walked to familiar corridors on the way to the transfiguration classroom, I thought about last night. It had been a typical sorting ceremony. Nothing exciting about that or dinner. But before falling asleep, the girls in my dorm decided to talk about boys. Not really my favorite topic, but I went along with it.

_"__Narcissa I heard you and Lucius made it official! Congrationals!" Jackie Duchaine, a blonde ditzy girl in sixth year with me, squealed. Narcissa Black flipped her prefect hair and smiled demurely._

_"__Yes, we did. My parents thought it was appropriate for us to go on and be officially engaged now instead of waiting for me to graduate. I heard you started dating Maxwell this summer."_

_Jackie blushed and nodded. "My parents are thrilled. I think our parents are talking about an engagement right now." I rolled my eyes. One of the many things I hate about pureblood society is how engagements seem to always work. Like one family bartering off a daughter to the richest bidder._

_"__Oh don't roll your eyes Evelyn. My mother said your parents are talking to the Black's to arrange a marriage." Scarlet Thompson, another sixth year, said._

_"__Oh I know." I forced a smile on my lips. "But since Regulus is younger we won't be getting married for a while." Or ever, I added in my head._

_"__I think you two would be a perfect match." Narcissa said smiling at me. For some reason she had always loved me. "Then we would be family!" I faked squealed at her excitement. I did love Regulus, but as a friend. He was the only person I could stand in Slytherin. And we knew our families were going to marry us some day. We just didn't want it to be soon._

Thinking about my future as Mrs. Regulus Black, I entered the classroom. Apparently my walk had taken longer than I had thought, as most of the seats in the room were already taken. In fact there was only one seat left next to Remus Lupin. With a sigh I walked to the seat and got settled.

"Hello Strauss." Remus said. I glared at him.

"I told you we weren't going to be friends just because we're partners." I didn't have anything personal against Remus. I just couldn't be friends with someone like him. He didn't fit into my plan.

"Since when does a simple hello mean we're friends?" Remus quirked an eyebrow at me. I just glared again and turned to the front of the room. Sirius Black and James Potter were sitting in front of us. Sirius turned around.

"Don't kill our friend Strauss." He glared at me. I rolled my eyes.

"Actually I don't think the killing curse is on the lesson plan today Black. So your friend is safe." James laughed.

"I don't think sitting next to a Slytherin qualifies as 'safe'". James looked at Remus. "Don't be afraid to use force to fight her off." I wanted to bang my head against the table. These Gryffindors were so stupid. But I didn't have to listen to any of their idiotic talk because at that moment the professor walked in and started the lesson.

I was able to get through the rest of the day without any incidents, which was a miracle. I have ALL of my classes with at least one of the Marauders. Also creepy Anthony from the train is in two of my classes and happens to be my partner in potions. After a long day of classes I was so excited to slide into my seat at dinner next to Regulus.

"You look like you had a rough day." He smirked at me when I smacked his arm.

"Your idiot brother and his friends were with me all day. So yea it wasn't the best day." Regulus shook his head. He looked over at the Gryffindor table where Sirius was laughing with his friends. I knew it hurt him that they weren't close anymore. I patted his hand and started loading my plate.

"How was your day?" With that I tried to turn the conversation back to normal topics. We talked about our days and Regulus told me about the end of his summer. Since our parents are so intent on our marriage, I get to see Regulus pretty frequently during breaks from school. It's good that he's my best friend besides my brother.

"Don't you have to patrol with Lupin tonight?" Regulus asked as we stood up to head back to the common room. I groaned.

"Yes. Thanks for the reminder." There went the evening of homework and reading I had planned. I walked to the common room and put my things away before turning right back around to head to the entrance hall. Remus was already standing there when I walked up.

"Lupin." I nodded at him and we started walking. We were supposed to patrol from the second floor down to the dungeons tonight. After walking for a couple minutes in strained silence, Remus coughed.

"So how were your classes today?" I glared at him.

"What are you doing? Small talk really? Let's just do our rounds and get it over with."

"I thought you said you were going to try to be nice? Or is this what you think nice is?" Remus asked.

"Nice means not jinxing you." I mumbled trying to end the conversation. Remus laughed.

"So you would rather walk in complete silence than talk with me for the two hours we'll be forced to be together?" I nodded.

"Yep. Sounds like a plan to me." This seemed to shut him up and we walked for rest of the second floor in silence.

I had hoped this time with Evelyn would give me a way to get to know her better. But she seemed content to walk in silence. I thought of another tactic as we reached the first floor.

"Are you excited to watch Matt play quidditch this year?" At the mention of her brother a new light shined on her face.

"Of course. He's the best chaser your pathetic team has."

"He is very talented. But James is a great captain as well." She rolled her eyes at this comment.

"That's because Potter has a broom up his ass all the time. It's a wonder he can even function without one." I laughed at this. She wasn't far off; James was always flying. Since she seemed willing to talk about her brother I thought I should continue down this path.

"You really love him don't you?" Every time her brother was mentioned she seemed to turn into a different person. It was the same with Matt.

"Of course I do. He's my brother." It seemed like she was holding back something though.

"You don't hate him since he's not in Slytherin?" It had always confused me. I remembered her cheering when he was sorted. She tensed a little at this question.

"Matthew wouldn't do well in Slytherin." She was giving me short answers. I wondered what was behind all of this. I pondered her answer and we continued on in silence for a while. She seemed to have been thinking as well.

"Look Lupin, it's not going to do us any good to become friends. We're too different. Nothing can come from us being friends. So this little question game you want to start, it's for nothing. So let's just get through this year as partners quietly." We rounded the corner and started our descent into the dungeons. My shoulders shagged a little at her speech. She was right. What was I trying to do? I'm not exactly a typical guy. I can't get close to her no matter how bad I want to.

"How was patrolling with E?" Matt flopped down on the couch next to me as I was doing homework. I shrugged.

"It was ok. We didn't talk very much." Matt looked disappointed.

"You don't hate her because she's in Slytherin do you?" I immediately shook my head.

"No of course not. She just didn't want to talk. She told me we can't be friends." I shrugged. I agreed with her now, so I wasn't going to fight it.

"Can't be friends? Remus you can be friends with anyone. And I for one, as a totally biased and very interested party, think you two would be great friends." Matt smirked. "I mean you've been in love with her since I got to Hogwarts. Now's your chance." If I had been drinking something I would have spit it out.

"Wh-what? In love with her? I have not…." Matt gave me a look that shut me up. Of course I've been in love with her all these years. She's the most beautiful girl I've ever seen. But as she so clearly pointed out today, it will never work. I was fooling myself to think I had a chance. Matt patted my shoulder and stood up to leave.

"Don't fret Remus. She'll warm up to you."

"What do you think you're doing?" I looked up as Matthew slid into the seat across from me. I was in the library working on a History of Magic paper. I raised an eyebrow at my brother.

"Homework. Which is what you should probably be doing." He shook his head.

"With Remus. You know what I mean. Why are you being a bitch to him?" I glared at him and went back to writing my paper.

"You know that it will do no good to be friends with him. I can't be friends with blood traitors." I looked up shocked when Matt slammed my book close.

"I know you have some sick obsession with being miserable but can you just give Remus a chance? It's not like I'm asking you to run off and marry him. Hell you don't even have to speak to him outside of patrols. Mom and dad will never know. Your pathetic housemates won't know. You're allowed to have friends E. Stop being a bitch." With that he got up and left. I huffed and went back to my work. I'm very stubborn, but if Matt wants me to try and be Remus's friend I'll try.


	3. Chapter 3

I stood waiting for Remus. Tonight we were going to be patrolling the 6th and 7th floors and the Astronomy tower. I was fidgeting with my hands when Remus finally walked up.

"Look before we start I wanted to say sorry. Matthew has informed me that I may have been…..unnecessarily rude to you. So we can talk while we patrol." I quickly spewed all of this out before he could say anything back. I gave a small smile hoping to reassure him that I was actually going to give this a try. All he did was nod. We started walking and an awkward silence soon enveloped us.

We reached the sixth floor but I stopped before we continued. Remus looked back at me and arched an eyebrow. Taking a deep breath I held out my hand.

"Hello. My name is Evelyn Strauss. It's nice to meet you." He looked at me quizzically before shaking my hand.

"What are you doing?"

"I think we got started wrong. So for the few hours that we patrol together each week I think we should forget about everything else and just be us. So we're starting over." Remus shyly smiled at me and nodded.

"Nice to meet you Evelyn. I'm Remus Lupin." We started walking again and the silence was more comfortable.

"So what did Matt say to you to make you want to try this?" Remus asked as we rounded the first corner.

"He said I was being a bitch. Matthew doesn't sugar coat things for me." I chuckled. "He said I should give you a chance. So I guess I'm giving you a chance."

"Well I'll just have to thank him next time I see him." Remus smiled. I noticed, not for the first time, how attractive Remus is. He's a perfect height with sandy blonde hair and lovely hazel eyes. He seemed tired but that didn't detract from his looks at all. I shook my head. Those thoughts definitely wouldn't help anything.

Our conversation didn't flow easily. There were a lot of awkward pauses and long stretches of silence. But at no point did I feel like I couldn't talk to Remus. I think it was just hard to get over the feelings that were there; that we shouldn't be friends, that we were to different to be friends, the house rivalry, everything. But as we parted ways at the end of our patrol I felt like maybe this was the start of something important.

I soon began to look forward to patrols with Remus. We didn't talk nonstop when we were together but the silences were now much less awkward. I felt like we were really making great strides in this blooming friendship.

"Good evening Miss Strauss." I smiled and turned to face Remus. My smile quickly faltered because of how drawn and tired he looked.

"What's the matter Remus?" He shrugged and brushed it off as nothing but I couldn't get the concern off my face.

"Really Evelyn, it's nothing. Just a bug." He smiled but it didn't reach his eyes.

"Ok, but we're walking slow tonight." He nodded in agreement and we started our slow stroll.

"How have things been going?" I asked when the silence seemed to stretch forever.

"Good. Classes seem like they're going to be tough this year though." I nodded in agreement. Classes seemed to be piling on the work this year. We continued walking in comfortable silence, but I couldn't get over how sick Remus looked.

"Are you sure you're ok? If you're sick you could have skipped patrol."

"I wouldn't miss patrol for a silly bug." I smiled hearing this. I'm glad he seemed to like our time together as much as I do.

"Still I want to help if you're sick!" Remus chuckled at my eagerness to help.

"Well then let's play a game." I gave him a skeptical look. "Really Evelyn it'll help me focus on something else."

"Ok." I said still not seeing how this would help. "What kind of game?"

"A question game. I'll ask you questions and you answer." I rolled my eyes.

"That doesn't sound like a game but ok. Shoot." Remus seemed to smile at my willingness to go along with his 'game'.

"What's your favorite color?"

"Green." I smiled. "I'm a true Slytherin."

"Hardly." Remus shook his head. "Favorite time of the year?"

"Christmas time. I love giving presents and the snow and decorations. Everything." I smiled. This 'game' wasn't bad at all.

"How about a harder question?" I tensed a little at this. Some questions I didn't want to answer. "Favorite childhood memory." I relaxed. This I could answer.

I was glad Evelyn had decided to go along with this. We've been getting closer slowly during our nightly patrols, but I wanted to know so much more about her. I saw her tense when I mentioned answering harder questions. I wonder what that's about? But then her eyes lit up when I asked about her favorite childhood memory.

"That's easy. I was nine and Matthew was eight. It was a couple days after Christmas, and it had snowed the night before. Our parents had gone to their friends for the afternoon and they thought I was old enough to stay at home in charge. So after they left, I bundled Matthew up and we went to a muggle park down the street. We played for hours; building snowmen and having a snowball fight with some of the local children. And when we got back home I made us hot chocolate and read Matthew some of my favorite book." Evelyn's eyes shone with a happiness I had never seen on her face before. She looked content; like she would love nothing more than to stay in that memory. She then turned to me. "Are you the only one that gets to asks questions in this game?"

I laughed. "Of course not. Fire away."

"How did you and Matthew become friends?"

"He stood up to Sirius and James." When I said this, Evelyn's eyebrows shot up. "They were pranking some little first year that had annoyed them and he stood in front of them and told them to stop. No one had ever done that before. So James and Sirius invited him to hang out with us." I shrugged. "He's great." She beamed at this.

"Of course he is. I raised him right." I looked her quizzically.

"You raised him?" She nodded. "What do you mean?"

"Well our parents were always busy with work or social gatherings or something. And I mean yea, we got carted around to the parties and stuff but most of the kids were stuck up. And unless we were doing something that we weren't supposed to or unless they were drilling some rules into our heads, our parents just left us alone. So I was the one that played with Matthew and I was the one that taught him things. I helped him with bruises and wiped away tears. We were all each other had." I looked at her in awe. She just smiled and shrugged her shoulders.

"I always wondered why you two were so close." We walked down the hall before a question popped in my head. "Why do you only call him Matthew?"

"Because it's more fitting for him. It just sounds so much more elegant than Matt." She wrinkled her nose at the nickname.

"Why does he call you E? Evelyn is much prettier." I swear her cheeks reddened at this. She twirled some hair around her finger and giggled.

"It's embarrassing for him. But when he was little he couldn't say Evelyn. So I tried to shorten it to Eve, but he still couldn't say that. So it got shortened down to just E." I laughed. Matt was never going to live this down. We were nearing the end of our patrol and I didn't want to end this game yet. This was the most open we've ever been with each other. Apparently I wasn't the only one that thought so.

"I like this game. Can we play it again?" I gave her a slight bow as we reached the end of our patrol.

"As you wish." And with that we parted ways.

I walked to class with Narcissa the next day still wanting to smile from my night with Remus. I don't know why, but I felt so comfortable with him. I felt like I could be myself.

"Well look if it isn't my dear cousin and his blood traitor friends." We had reached the door to Potions and the Marauders were standing outside with the other students waiting for Slughorn.

"What do you want?" Sirius sneered at us. I just glared at him.

"Just wanted to see how life is." Narcissa leaned in a little and sniffed in Sirius's direction. "You don't seem to have smell like the trash you hang out with. Yet." She smirked when she saw Sirius clench his fists.

"Why do you and bitch two just shut up." I raised an eyebrow at this.

"My my what language we have. Didn't mommy dearest teach you better manners?" I smirked when the color began to rise in his cheeks. At this point James, Remus and Peter were about to get involved.

"Both of you can fuck off." James glared at us. I rolled my eyes. He was always real original with his insults. Narcissa let out a tinkle of a laugh.

"Oh Potty, I'm just trying to talk to my favorite cousin." Lily Evan stepped up then, being the perfect prefect that she is.

"Ok that is enough." She gave us all a stern look. "We can all handle standing in the hall for a few minutes together."

"No one asked you mudblood." I said glaring at her. I dislike Lily Evans. She's always trying to beat me in school and putting her nose in places it doesn't belong. James and Sirius whipped out their wands. I looked at them with no emotion. Narcissa was giggling behind me.

"Take that back." James whispered with a deathly glare.

"No." I smirked at the looks on their faces. Before they could say anything else, Slughorn opened the door and class started.

I practically skipped to meet Remus for our patrol that night. However when I met up with him he didn't even look at me before walking off in the direction of the third floor. I had to jog to keep up with him.

"Wait up." I finally got him to stop but he still didn't look at me. "What's wrong?" I said placing a hand on his arm. He immediately shrugged it off. He finally turned and looked at me.

"What was that today?" I looked at him and tried to flip through my day to think about what he was talking about. When he saw my confused look he threw up his hands. "You called Lily that name! And you fought with James and Sirius for NO REASON!" He huffed and stalked off before I could answer. I quickly caught up with him and put turned him to face me.

"Remus, I'm a Slytherin. I know we get along great here on patrol and everything, but that doesn't change who I am."

"But you aren't that person! You honestly expect me to believe you when you say that you believe all that crap that Slytherins spew every day?" He was almost shaking with anger.

"You don't know me." I said sneering at him. He just laughed a bitter laugh.

"That's right. I don't know you. Maybe you were right, we're too different. We can't be friends." He started to walk off again while I stood there shocked. The thought of losing the talks with Remus was more painful than it should have been. I ran to keep up with him.

"Remus! Didn't we agree to forget all the stuff out there and just talk when we're on patrol?" I knew I was begging and I shouldn't be. It wasn't dignified at all. But I loved talking to Remus.

"Forget everything? That's a laugh. We can't forget who we are." He sounded resigned at this and I really looked at him. His shoulders were slumped and he looked years older than his sixteen years. I put my hand on his arm and this time he didn't pull away.

"I'm sorry I upset you." That was the only apology he was going to get from me. He seemed to sense this and nodded. Without really thinking about it I pulled him into a hug. The warmth and electricity I felt was not what I was expecting. I didn't want to pull away, but I did. I nervously shuffled my feet and cleared my throat. "Sorry." I mumbled. I turned away and started walking again. The awkward silence that we had been able to get rid of the past week was back in full force tonight.

I knew my anger was out of control today. The full moon was this week and it was getting to me. So I had brewed all day on the fight that had happened. She had no reason to act the way she did. I knew that wasn't the real Evelyn. The real Evelyn was so nice and helpful and sweet. I was angry that she felt the need to have this mask in public. I knew yelling at her was wrong. I didn't want to end our talks. But I didn't think this could work.

"Remus! Didn't we agree to forget all the stuff out there and just talk when we're on patrol?" I looked at her. Her eyes were pleading with me. I almost broke and gave in. Let her be who she wants, as long as she's my Evelyn when she's with me.

"Forget everything? That's a laugh. We can't forget who we are." My shoulders sagged. Even if we could get passed these prejudices she had, we still had my furry little problem to deal with. And that was too big of a problem. Evelyn laid her hand on my arm.

"I'm sorry I upset you." I knew she wasn't sorry for what she said. This would just have to be something we agreed to disagree on. Before I could even process what was happening, she had wrapped her arms around me in a hug. I instantly pulled her into the hug. The tingles running up my body from the contact with her were amazing. I didn't want the hug to end. Her smell assaulted my nose. She smelled like vanilla and something I couldn't quite place. I relaxed and felt better. All too soon, she pulled away.

"Sorry." She said shuffling her feet. She then turned and started walking down the corridor. I followed. The rest of our patrol was engulfed in an awkward silence, but I was living in the moment of her hug.


	4. Chapter 4

Most days I don't care that I'm a Slytherin. Sure everyone is stuck up and believes all these crazy ideas about blood purity but it's not a terrible house. But there are days when I would rather be a stupid Hufflepuff than put up with my housemates. Today was one of those days.

"I don't know how you do it Evelyn. How do you handle the embarrassment of having a blood traitor for a brother?" Narcissa asked as we ate breakfast. I clenched my fork and faked a smile.

"I imagine it's similar to how you deal with having Sirius as a cousin." She gave this a thoughtful nod.

"Yes I suppose. But you two were always so close growing up. It must hurt that he turned out this way." I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. Anthony snorted.

"Who are you kidding Narcissa? She still loves her brother even if he is trash." He smirked and looked at me. "Don't you Evelyn?" I didn't respond.

"Maybe you could show him how wrong he is." Jackie said putting her hand on my arm in an attempt to be reassuring. Anthony's sidekick, Gregory Pearson, laughed this time.

"Once a blood traitor always a blood traitor." He looked across the hall and glared. "The whole lot of Gryffindor is the same. Not worth the dirt on my shoe." I slammed my hands down on the table shoving away. Without another word I stormed out of the Great Hall. I heard someone running behind me and turned to see Matthew.

"What happened?" Concern was evident in his eyes.

"Nothing. Don't worry about it." I said through gritted teeth.

"Really E what happened? I can try to help." He pleaded with me.

I sighed. It did no good to be mad at him. I pulled him into a quick hug and smiled. "Really, it's no big deal. Just Slytherins being Slytherins." He patted my back then ruffled my hair.

"You better get back to your friends. I wouldn't want to be seen with a dirty blood traitor like you." Matthew rolled his eyes but left to go find his friends. I continued to class. The day passed pretty smoothly until dinner. As I sat eating, Anthony slid into the seat next to me.

"I've been thinking Evelyn. How about we go to Hogsmead together? I like you a lot even with the blood traitor brother." I forced a smile on my face as I turned to him.

"How about no." His face instantly changed to a scowl.

"You might be in Slytherin but you sure don't act like it. You're probably just as bad as your filthy brother." I had had enough. I stood to leave but he grabbed my arm and stopped me. "Better watch yourself Strauss. If you know what's good for you, you'll distance yourself from the filth and show your allegiance to those on the right side." I understood the not so subtle hint. Before I had thought my actions through, I had my wand at Anthony's throat. He instantly stilled but didn't release my arm.

Leaning in I whispered in his ear. "Dunn, you better think twice before threatening my brother again. I WILL ruin your life." I pulled his hand off of me and left.

Anthony didn't back off though. He continued to talk about my brother for the rest of the week. And to make things better, Remus was sick and I had to patrol with the Ravenclaw boy until he got better. By Sunday, I was ready to claw someone's eyes out. With this attitude I walked to the Great Hall for dinner.

"Watch yourself Strauss." I heard someone say up ahead of me. A sinking feeling came over me and as I rounded the corner I came face to face with Anthony and Matthew. Anthony and his friends had Matthew surrounded. Matthew had a look of defiance on his face.

"Or what Dunn? We both know you won't do shit." I was going to kill Matthew. Why would he want to make this worse? I tightened my hold on my wand and swiftly walked to stand between Anthony and Matthew.

"What did I tell you Anthony? Leave him alone." Anthony just laughed in my face.

"Like I'm actually afraid of you?" He spat out. But before he could say more, I had him hanging upside down with a face that was quickly covering in boils.

"You might not be, but you should be." I gave a cold look to the other boys and they stepped back. "He might be a filthy Gryffindor but he's still a Strauss. I would hate to have to let my father know that a Dunn thought he was better than a Strauss." I let him fall to the floor and Anthony and his goons glared before walking off to take Anthony to the hospital wing.

"You didn't need to do that." Matthew said from behind me. I turn on him still fuming.

"What the fuck Matthew?! Why would you egg him on? He already has it out for you! Do you ever think?"

"You didn't have to get involved! You don't have to always save me anymore!" Matthew yelled in my face.

"I'm not going to let you get hurt by some weirdo when it could be avoided!" I yelled back.

"I can handle myself with a bunch of crazy Slytherins." He started to storm off but I grabbed his arm.

"You don't seem to grasp the situation Matthew. I'M sticking my neck out for you. Everything you do, affects me. Just stay out of trouble." He shook my hand off and stormed off without another word. I huffed and went to grab a quick bite of food. After dinner I headed to the entrance to meet my patrol partner to get this over with. Much to my surprise, Remus was standing there. I smiled until I noticed the cuts and bruises on him.

"Oh my god Remus what happened?" My hands fluttered around him wanting to help but being afraid to touch the bandages that littered his body.

"It's nothing really. It looks a lot worse than it is. Just got into a little bit of a fight." I rolled my eyes.

"Between you and Matthew someone is going to die before the year is out." We started our slow walk and Remus chuckled.

"He told us about the fight. But let's hear your side of the story."

"He's just trying to be a hero. He needs to keep his nose down and stay out of the way." I huffed and folded my arms across my chest. "I've kept him safe this long, I think I can continue to do it."

"What do you need to save him from?" Remus asked.

"He's got a target on his back because he's a blood traitor in the eyes of my housemates. And he eggs them on."

"I thought you were ok with him being in Gryffindor." Remus said, with what I thought was a touch of hurt in his voice. I scoffed.

"I couldn't care less what house he's in. And I don't even care what he believes. But certain people don't agree with him and these certain people are dangerous. They don't like when people don't follow them."

"You mean Death Eaters?" Remus asked. I sucked in a breath. No matter how much I denied it, this topic scared me.

"Yes. And while no one is one yet, a lot of my housemates align very closely with those ideas. Matthew isn't being careful and he makes it hard for me to protect him." I pointedly looked at Remus. "Being friends with the Marauders doesn't exactly help him stay safe."

"He knows what he believes and he stands up for that." Remus looked at me. "I have a feeling he learned that from you."

"Maybe." I shrugged. "But enough about me and my idiotic brother. Are you feeling better?" He nodded.

"I'm still tired and sore but much better thank you." I lightly bumped into him and smiled.

"Well don't make a habit of being sick. Phillips is terrible to patrol with. He thinks that since I'm a Slytherin I'm going to hex him straight to the hospital wing." Remus laughed and he bumped me back.

"I'll try not to." I beamed. Getting Remus back made today almost worth it.


	5. Chapter 5

The weeks flew by between classes and patrolling. Remus had had to miss patrol a couple more times which always bummed me out. But I would be lying if I said we hadn't become friends now. We talked about almost everything. I still didn't talk to him about my family and I had a feeling he had some secrets from me. Matthew was the same as ever. I hadn't had any more run-ins with Anthony since he tried to fight Matthew. I had to say life was going pretty well.

Halloween was quickly approaching. Most girls, especially the Slytherin ones, were bouncing with excitement. Every year we had a dance for Halloween and this year it was going to be a masquerade. These weren't childish dress up in costume dances either. They were like the balls my parents had made me attend my entire life. I wasn't excited.

"Are you even paying attention to me?" Regulus said waving his hand in front of my face. I blinked and shook my head no. He rolled his eyes. "I was asking if we were going to the dance together."

"Of course. Who else would I go with?" In that moment a pair of hazel eyes flashed in my face.

"Good. I thought I was going to have to ask a bimbo." I laughed. Regulus disliked most of the girls in Slytherin. That's why we got along so well; he didn't expect me to be ditzy and to hang all over him.

"Are you going to get your dress this weekend in Hogsmead?" I nodded.

"Yea. I'd ask if you want to come but I know how you hate shopping. I guess I'll go with Narcissa."

"No you won't. She's meeting Lucius in Hogsmead this weekend." I groaned.

"So I'm going to have to go by myself? Or take Scarlet or Jackie with me? Gag." I laid my head on my arms in defeat.

"Do you want me to go with you?" Regulus asked chuckling. I mumbled a response into my arm. "What was that? I didn't hear you."

"Yes. Would you PLEASE go with me?" I almost shouted at him to make sure he heard.

"Why yes darling. Anything for you." He smirked and I stuck my tongue out at him.

The guys and I were in Hogsmead. It was a great day; sunny and not too cold for late October. We had already perused Honeydukes and Zonko's and our arms were heavy with our purchases. Peter and James were currently arguing about quidditch and Sirius was talking to his newest fling. I wanted to go to the bookstore so I excused myself from the group and promised to meet them at The Three Broomsticks.

"Don't take too Moony! We might drink all the butterbeer before you get there!" James yelled as I walked off in the opposite direction. I chuckled. I loved days like this spent with my friends. I walked into the book store and found the book I was looking for. I looked around for a couple more minutes before making my purchase and leaving the store. Once outside, I stopped dead in my tracks. Across the street walking hand in hand were Evelyn and Regulus Black. Without really thinking about it I followed them as they walked down the street and entered the dress shop. I could see them laughing together as Evelyn looked through the racks. My heart sank. I couldn't watch anymore and headed to meet my friends. Of course she would be with someone like Regulus. He was from a good family and he wasn't bad looking. And he wouldn't put her in danger by just being near her. I don't know why I thought our growing friendship would mean she would see me in any romantic light. With a heavy heart, I sank into my seat next to Peter at The Three Broomsticks.

"Why so down chum?" Sirius asked. His arm was slung around the shoulders of some giggling fifth year. This was like a stab to my heart. I could never be like that with the girl of my dreams.

"It's nothing." I reached for my butterbeer they had ordered me. I tried to loose myself in the joy of being with my friends again, but I couldn't. I was depressed and jealous of Regulus. I wanted to walk with Evelyn hand in hand and show everyone that I loved her. Especially her. But that would never happen.

"Hey Remus!" I smiled and hooked arms with him as I began walking our route for patrols that night. He seemed tense and I raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." He slipped his arm from mine and stuffed his hands in his pockets. Our walk continued with me asking questions and him giving me short answers. Half way through I threw up my hands in frustration.

"What did I do then? What happened to make you so angry with me?" I stopped and looked him dead in the eye. He looked at the floor.

"You didn't do anything. I just don't think your boyfriend would like you being close with a Gryffindor." That certainly wasn't what I was expecting.

"Boyfriend? I haven't got a…"

"I saw you with him. Not that it's any of my business." Remus said shuffling his feet. I racked my brain for who he could mean. Then it clicked.

"You mean Regulus?" He nodded and I snorted. "I mean I guess you could say he's my boyfriend. He is a male and he is my friend. And we're going to end up married someday when our parents force us. But that's just it. There's not really any grand attraction." I shrugged.

"What?" Remus looked at me confused.

"Purebloods are all about arranged marriages and the Blacks are a wonderfully powerful family. So our parents have been talking for years about marrying me off to one of the Blacks and obviously it isn't going to be Sirius. But me and Regulus have an understanding. We love each other as friends but we wouldn't necessarily choose each other to marry if we had the choice." I smiled. "I could do worse. I could end up with Anthony Dunn or someone I actually hate."

"So you're ok with marrying someone you don't love?" Remus asked. Once again I shrugged.

"I've always known I'm not getting a happily ever after." I started walking again but quickly stopped, looking back at Remus with a smirk. "Why do you care if I have a boyfriend? Were you jealous?" A slight blush covered his cheeks and my smirk grew bigger. "You were!" I giggled and started poking Remus. "Admit it!" He tried to swat my hands away but I kept it up. Then, with reflexes I didn't know he had, Remus grabbed both of my hands and pinned them down to my sides. Somehow in this game of ours, we had ended up with my back against the wall. I could feel Remus's breath on my neck and chills ran up and down my spine.

"And what if I was?" He whispered. I looked up into his eyes. All the playfulness was gone. I wanted to reach up and move the hair that had fallen into his eyes but I couldn't as my hands were still pinned.

"What if I liked that you were jealous? Just a little bit." I whispered back. I felt that talking loud would ruin the moment. Remus moved a little closer. Our lips were only a couple inches apart. Mine suddenly felt dry, so I licked them. Remus's eyes instantly darted to my lips and watched my tongue trace my lips.

"Well what are we going to do about this?" He asked. That was the million dollar question. What were we going to do? All I wanted to do was lean forward and press my lips to his. But what good would that do? We could never be together. But Remus kept flicking his eyes between my eyes and lips and I was still getting tingles from being this close to him.

"What do you want to do?" This was the only response I could think of. And I think it was the right question because as soon as the words left my lips, Remus leaned forward and captured my mouth in a kiss. It was a simple kiss, just lips to lips, but it was the best kiss of my life. Remus finally released my hands so I could wrap my arms around his neck. His instantly tangled in my hair as the kiss became more intense. I had never felt this electricity before. I wanted to get closer to him. I just wanted to continue to feel this hum and heat that was spreading over me. But all too soon the rational side of me took over and I pushed him away.

"I….I..I" I couldn't focus. I wanted to reach forward and fuse myself to him again and flee at the same time. So I ran.

My lips were still tingling as I reached the Astronomy Tower. The cool night air felt good to my hot skin. I sank with my back to the wall. What was I doing? I couldn't like Remus Lupin. I had a very clear path to follow and it didn't involve getting close to some handsome Gryffindor. I wanted to pull my hair and scream. What was wrong with me? I don't know why I thought I could hide here, but I was soon joined by none other than the boy of my internal debate. He slid down and sat next to me without touching me or saying a word.

"What are we doing?" I whispered. I looked at him pleading with my eyes for him to fix this. I needed him to make my life make sense again.

"I don't know about you, but I know that I like you. I have since around second year. But I'm sorry for kissing you back there." I felt a pain in my heart. "Not that I regret it!" He quickly amended. "I just know that it was really soon. And it probably isn't the best idea for us to be together." He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "But I've wanted to kiss you for so long now." He stopped talking and the night was once again silent around us.

"Nothing could come from us being together. Nothing but heart ache and pain." I whispered. He looked at me with eyes that held a wisdom much more than his sixteen years and nodded. "Your friends wouldn't approve, my family wouldn't approve. The list is extensive for why we shouldn't go any further than we have." Remus nodded in agreement. I looked up at the stars and sighed. "Then why does that make me so sad?"

Nothing else happened that night and I spent the rest of the week reliving the kiss we shared and trying to figure out what I wanted to do. I knew Remus would respect my decision. Matthew would tell me to go for it; to screw our family and do what makes me happy. But then everything I had done to get to this point would be for nothing. I tried to forget about it as I got ready for the Halloween dance. I slipped into my dress and did my hair and makeup. The girls in my dorm chattered away happily, giddy with the chance to doll up for an evening. I forced small talk and smiles but all I wanted to do was crawl into bed and cry. Just before seven, we all descended the stairs to meet the boys in the common room. I smiled at Regulus. He was so handsome in his black dress robes. He bowed slightly at my approach.

"My lady." He said before taking my hand and placing it in the crook of his arm. I was going to try to have fun tonight with Regulus. We walked up to the Great Hall and entered to the amazing decorations. Jack-o-lanterns floated in the air and orange and black candles with cobwebs were scattered around the room. It had an elegant yet creepy vibe. The first dance was as usual a waltz. Regulus took me into his arms and we glided across the floor. I always loved dancing and soon lost myself in the joy of it. Before long I felt eyes on me. I soon found them. Remus, because that's the only person it could be, locked eyes with me as I twirled around the floor.

"You have every man in here staring." Regulus said looking down at me. I scoffed.

"Hardly. And if I do, it's merely because we dance so well together." I smiled up at him.

"I think it has more to do with this dress." He looked me up and down. "I'm excellent at picking out dresses for you." I rolled my eyes at his ego. But I had to admit the dress was fantastic. It was a tight black dress that flowed away after the knees. It was backless and had long sleeves. Some jewels adorned the edge of the back and the neckline. I had my hair pinned up into a loose updo and wore some dangling earrings as my only accessory. We continued to dance and I had a wonderful time. The entire night I would make eye contact with Remus from across the room. I wanted to go to him and pull him onto the dance floor. I wanted to feel his hands of my back instead of Regulus, but I couldn't. Oh fate, what a tangled web you weave. Even if we don't go any farther, I've had a taste of Remus and I'll always want more.


	6. Chapter 6

"I can't believe you." I crossed my arms and did my best stern face. Remus looked at me sheepishly.

"Can't believe what?" He shuffled his feet. I punched his arm and he winced. I winced a little too.

"You know what you did. You left me again. And this time with a Hufflepuff!" I stormed away leaving Remus behind. He had missed the last two nights of patrol leaving me to be with the Hufflepuff boy. If I thought the Ravenclaw had been afraid of me, the Hufflepuff was utterly terrified of me. He wouldn't look me in the eyes and walked about three feet away from me. It was the most painful two days of my life.

"I'm sorry. I had to go help my sick grandmother." I didn't believe him. His body was once again covered with cuts and bruises. He was sluggish and his eyes had bags under them. What was going on?

"You promised you wouldn't miss again. This is the last time I'll forgive you." I smirked at him before linking my arm with his. "You owe me big guy."

Remus's cheeks reddened slightly and he coughed. "Owe you what?"

"A dance, flowers, chocolate, undying love and affection." I shrugged. "Whatever you think will put you back in my good graces." Remus stopped walking and looked at me. He smiled before sweeping me into his arms. We started a slow waltz down the hall.

"My my who would have guessed that Mr. Lupin so was light on his feet." I smiled.

"I'm full of surprises young lady. I can also do a pretty mean salsa dance if you're nice to me." I raised an eyebrow. I gasped as Remus lowered me into a dip. "Are you still mad?" He asked as he pulled me back up.

"Maybe just a little." Our waltz had turned into a simple slow dance. I laid my head down on Remus's chest and sighed. "This is nice though." Remus's hand on my back pulled me closer.

"I wanted to do this the other night at the ball. I was jealous of Regulus." Remus looked down at me. "He got to dance with the most beautiful girl in school and I just got to watch."

"Can I be honest with you?" I bit my lip nervously. Remus nodded. "I can't stop thinking about our kiss." He smiled.

"I can't either." I looked up at him. At some point we had stopped dancing and were now just standing in the corridor holding each other.

"This is happening a little fast." I whispered. Where had these feelings come from? Why did I feel so attached to him when I hardly knew him?

"I would never make you do something you didn't want to." Remus pushed some of my hair back from my face.

"I know you wouldn't. But…" I left my sentence hanging open ended. Remus leaned down and rested his forehead against mine.

"I know." His eyes were so sad and I didn't know how to fix it. I reached up and cupped his cheek. Why was this so difficult? Wasn't love suppose to be easy?

_Evelyn,_

_As we haven't heard any stories from our friends, we assume things at school are going well. Although we believe your relationship with Matthew is still ill-advised, we are relived that it hasn't caused any more embarrassment for the family. When you return home for the holidays, your father and I have some very important news to discuss with you._

_Be on your best behavior,_

_Mother_

The note arrived with the morning post. I ate my breakfast while thinking about what it could mean. What kind of news would we be discussing? I looked across the table at Regulus. "Have your parents said anything to you about 'important new'?" He shook his head.

"Nope. Why?"

"We've got something to discuss when I go home for Christmas." I stood up and flung my bag over my shoulder. I would put it from my mind. I had more important things to think about: school, Matthew, and mostly Remus Lupin. I glanced at him across the hall as I left for class. We've only really known each other since the beginning of the school year, but I already feel such a connection with him. I shook my head. What was I doing?

"E! E! Wait up!" I turned and Matthew almost collided with me.

"What do you want?" I said pushing him away when he tackled me into a hug.

"To tell you how happy I am!" I looked at him like he was insane. "For you! And Remus?"

"What are you talking about? Lupin and I just patrol together." My heart stopped a little bit. Remus couldn't be saying we were more could he?

"Oh come on. I see the looks you two give each other. If you two aren't something now, you will be soon." Matthew slung his arm around my shoulders and squeezed. "I'm glad you've found a nice guy like him. I approve." I shrugged out from this grasp and stopped walking.

"Nothing is happening between us. We patrol the school and we don't kill each other. That's it." I stormed off not waiting for a reply.

"What are you telling my brother is going on between us?" I spat. Remus held his hands up in defense.

"Nothing." I rolled my eyes.

"Then why did he ask me what's going on between us today? When there is NOTHING going on." I walked away with my arms crossed.

"Apparently you think my world revolves around you. News flash Evelyn it doesn't." I glared at him. He had caught up faster than I thought he would. I didn't respond. "Why does it matter anyway? So what if we want to be something?"

"So what? So what? Well how about the fact that your friends would flip, my parents would quite literally murder me and my housemates would make my life hell. And for what?" I was seething.

"You can't deny this attraction." Remus was just as wound up as me.

"It doesn't mean anything. It's some stupid school crush. There are bigger things in the world to deal with."

"How do you know it means nothing?! It could be everything!" I tried to walk away but Remus grabbed my arm and pulled me back. His hands tangled in my hair and our mouths crashed together in a searing kiss full of anger and heat. He pulled away quickly, leaving me breathless. "You can't tell me that means nothing to you."

"It doesn't matter what it means now. We'll have to give it up eventually so why even try?" Remus started to say something but I covered his mouth with my hand. "No listen. My family is more dangerous than you know. I'll be….Matthew will be….things won't be good us if they were to know. There's not a future with me Remus. You deserve someone that can be with you in front of her friends and family. And that's not me. So this, whatever this is, has to stop. Now."

"You're afraid. You are terrified not only about what your family and friends will say but of your feelings. You won't even try. I've imagined what being with you would be like for five years. And yea, it'll be hard. No one will support us. But I want to try because I think it'll be worth it. But you're so afraid you won't even try." I could see the disgust in his eyes. It hurt to see him look at me like that.

"I'm saving you." I whispered. His eyes softened.

"Saving me from what?" He tried to pull me into a hug but I stepped away.

"Saving you from me. Saving you from the pain I'll cause you. Because I'm not going to be able to give you what you want. You want love and a family and…and a life! I can't…" Tears started to well up in my eyes. "You don't understand. I have to marry Regulus. I have to be what my parents want. To save Matthew."

"Who's going to save you?" Remus asked.

"I don't get saved. My fates already sealed."


	7. Chapter 7

Christmas break got closer and closer. Classes got harder, it got colder, and I got more nervous about going home. Matthew insisted he come home as well, even though I tried to convince him to stay at school. And to make life better, Remus and I hadn't spoken since our fight. Patrols were now done in complete silence as quickly as possible. I was resting on one of the couches in the common room when Regulus flopped down next to me.

"You look down. What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong." I mumbled shielding my eyes. I had a headache forming from all this thinking I was doing.

"I don't believe you." Regulus said with a sing-song voice. "You can tell me anything you know."

"There's something I want to do. But I can't." I sighed and moved so I was leaning on his shoulder. I wasn't going to tell him everything, but Regulus was right. He's my best friend, he can help.

He was quiet for a while just playing with my hair. "Do you ever think about how much easier it would be if we loved each other?" I looked at him quizzically. "Or maybe if we were like Sirius and just didn't care. How much easier it would be to be ourselves?"

"What are you talking about?" I asked. This wasn't what I thought he would say.

"I'm talking about how you want to be with someone but our parents wouldn't approve." He looked me in the eyes and smiled. "I can tell. Don't ask me how. But I know you don't want to do anything about you feel. You'd rather be miserable and keep Matthew out of your parents' hands. You'd rather just settle and marry me and then get the mark and do His bidding. I understand. It would be nice if things were different wouldn't it?"

"Yea. It would be." I gave a small smile and cuddled closer to Regulus. "It would be easier if I could just love you." He chuckled.

"Maybe you should do what you want to do. Just keep it secret. You already know how this is going to end. Have fun now." He got up to leave. Before he left he leant down and kissed my forehead. "Just be careful." I watched him walk away. That talk didn't help at all.

"E….E….EVELYN!" I jumped looking up at Matthew. He laughed and sank into the chair next to me. I was studying in the library. "Now that I've got your attention, I need to talk to you."

"About?" I went back to scribbling notes. Most of these talks were about Matthew's current crush or some quidditch gossip.

"What did you do to Remus? He's been in a horrible mood for the last couple of weeks. And don't say it wasn't you. I know it was. He's been in love with you since I got to Hogwarts."

"I didn't do anything to him." I said still not looking up.

"So that's the problem. You aren't doing anything. You are forcing your misery on another human being now." I looked up at him at this. My misery?

"You know nothing could come out of anything that happened between us. So why bother." I whispered glaring at my meddlesome little brother.

"Or you could allow yourself some happiness." He shrugged and leaned back in his chair. "Your call big sis."

"Yes it is. And my call is to not do anything. I have one goal and that's to keep you safe. And I can't do that if I'm with Remus Lupin." I whispered Remus's name so only Matthew would hear.

"So you do like him." Matthew smirked. I blushed. I guess this was the closest I'd gotten to saying it outright.

"It doesn't matter. In case you've forgotten our parents would not approve."

"When are you going to stop doing what they want and start doing what will make you happy? I'm a big boy now sis I can take care of myself." He reached over and grabbed my hand. "You've done enough for me. Now you just be happy."

After he left I couldn't focus on work anymore. Matthew and Regulus both told me to do what makes me happy. Remus makes me happy. But can I really take the jump?

I hated this. I hated not being able to talk to Evelyn. I hated that things were worse now than they'd ever been. I know I had been in a perpetual bad mood since our fight and my friends had noticed. Every day one of them would ask me what was wrong and I would only shrug in response. How could I possibly tell them that the girl I loved wanted nothing to do with me when they would want nothing to do with her?

"Alright man pull it together." Sirius said as he knocked my book out of my hands.

"Yea we've had enough of this mopey Moony. We want the normal nerdy one back." James said. Peter was nodding in agreement with them.

"What's even wrong with you? What happened?" I tried to think of an excuse that wasn't the truth. I didn't want to lie to my friends but I didn't want to tell them either. Nothing had even really happened between us.

"I bet he's heartbroken." James said insightfully. "That's the same kind of look I get when Lily turns me down."

"Well which girl turned you down? We can prank her for you!" Sirius said smiling at the idea of pulling off a prank. Peter, as always, was hanging on to his every word.

"It's nothing guys. I knew it wouldn't work before I even went in." I sighed. I had still hoped, more than I should have. "And you can't prank her. It's not her fault."

"Well then, the best way to get over someone is to get under someone else." Sirius slapped me on the back. "Let's get you a new girl. A better girl." I rolled my eyes. There was no one better than Evelyn.

"Hear hear!" James said jumping up. "Hey Sarah Ann!" He turned and addressed a pretty sixth year girl. She looked up and smiled.

"Yea? What's up James?"

"Sit with us at dinner?" She nodded and went back to her work. "There you go Moony. Put the moves on her at dinner. She could be your new girl."

"She's very nice." Peter said. "Probably much better than your old girl."

"Evelynn what did your potatoes ever do to you?" Regulus asked with a raised eyebrow. I huffed but tried to resist stabbing my food again. I glared across the room though at the blonde bimbo that was sitting a little too closely to Remus. "Are you ok?" Regulus asked bringing my attention back to him.

"Of course." I forced a smile. "Never better."

"You know green may be our house color, but it's really not your best color." Regulus smiled at my glare. "Jealousy is not very becoming on you."

"Why would I be jealous? I'm better than some dumb little skank." I stabbed some of my food. "I'm smarter," stab, "and prettier," stab, "and richer," stab, "and better than her." But when I looked up and saw him laughing at something she said I couldn't take it anymore. I shoved away from the table and left without another word. Unfortunately, I didn't have time for a walk before I had to meet Remus for our nightly patrol. So I sat on a bench near where we met and steamed. Who was she? When had they started talking? How did he get over me while I'm still hopelessly wishing I could be with him?

All too soon I heard footsteps coming towards me. I glared as Remus approached. He looked the same as always; he wasn't smiling more, he didn't look happier at all. He stopped just short of my bench and waited for me to stand without saying a word. I stood and we began our patrol like usual: in silence. But I was so angry, it didn't last long.

"You aren't going to rub it in that you've found someone new?" Remus quirked an eyebrow at me.

"What are you talking about?" He asked.

"I saw your little friend at dinner." I sneered. "I'm prettier." I flipped my hair and stood a little straighter. I admitted, I'm not handling this well at all. I'm vain and I don't like that someone else thinks they can have what's mine. Even if I haven't claimed it.

"Sarah Ann is my friend. And what does it matter if she's more? You have no say in it." Remus looked over at me with serious eyes. He was right of course. I really had no say. But that wasn't going to stop me from telling him how I felt.

"Sarah Ann? As in the girl that almost blows up her potions every class? As in that Sarah Ann? God you are dipping into the bottom of the cauldron."

"What is your problem? She's a perfectly nice girl. She may not be top of the class but she's nice and loyal and she won't treat me like shit." Remus glared at me. I deserved that. I had done nothing but treat him badly.

"Is she really what you want to be with though?" I stopped and glared back at him.

"She's not a what she's a who. And if you've forgotten, the person I want to be with is too afraid to be with me." He spat at me. We had moved closer together as we yelled at each other.

"I never said I didn't want to be with you! I can't. There's a difference."

"So what, you're allowed to have another guy but I can't even talk to another girl? That's crap and you know it." I turned to storm off but he grabbed my wrist and spun me back around. "And you can't be with me as you like to keep reminding me. So do you expect me to just sit around? And what? Dream? Not going to happen."

"I just want you to hurt like me!" I almost shouted. "I want this to tear you up inside like it does me. And that makes me a horrible horrible person. I don't want you to move on and get over me. I want you to want me because I still want you. So do I want you to sit around and dream? Yes. Because that's all I do anymore. I sit and dream about what I want but can't have. And that's all your fault." At some point tears had started to fall and I couldn't stop them. I pushed Remus away and started hitting him. "Why? Why did you have to kiss me? Why couldn't you just let me be? I was fine. I was FINE with what I was going to get. And then you fucked it all up. I hate you. I HATE YOU! You ruined everything!" Remus caught my hands and pulled me into him. I sobbed like I've never cried before and he held me, rubbing my back. When I had finally quieted down he spoke.

"Do you think I'm over you? We shared a couple of kisses and it's all I can think about. I'm not over it by a long shot. My friends want me to stop mopping around because I can't be happy. I can't be happy because I can't even talk to you anymore. That's why they had Sarah Ann sit with us tonight. They want me to be happy." He turned my face to him and wiped away some of my tears. "Do you know what makes me happy?" I looked him in the eye and shook my head no. "You." And then his lips brushed mine and it was like I could breathe again. I buried my hands in his hair and pulled him closer. He pushed me up the wall and his hands settled on my waist. How had I gone so long without this? How did I function without this feeling? All too soon Remus pulled away. Our breathing was heavy but we didn't move away from each other.

"I'll try." I whispered. Remus's forehead rested against mine.

"Try what?" Remus asked.

"This. I'll try this. I'm not afraid anymore." Remus smiled shyly at me.

"Really?" I cupped his cheek before pulling him in for a light kiss.

"Really."


	8. Chapter 8

"I've got to go Remus." I giggled trying to push him away. We had snuck off so we could say goodbye to each other. While I had agreed to try with Remus, I was still afraid to let everyone know we were together. So we had agreed to keep it a secret for now. But today was the day we were leaving for Christmas break and we had to say goodbye. I mean, we wouldn't be seeing each other for two weeks!

"The carriages aren't leaving for another ten minutes." Remus mumbled against my neck. He placed another kiss on my collar bone before returning to my lips. "Are you that ready to be away from me?"

"You know that's not it." I pulled him into a kiss. "I wish I could stay here with you over break."

"We still could. My parents would understand." Remus whispered. I shook my head. No, I had to go home to see what my parents wanted to tell me. We shared another kiss before I pushed away from Remus and left. I quickly walked down to the carriages and joined Narcissa and Regulus.

"Where were you at?" Narcissa asked with a raised eyebrow.

"My idiot of a brother needed something." I rolled my eyes. I knew she wouldn't ask more if Matthew was involved. Regulus smirked at me.

"You look a little frazzled Evelyn. You sure you're ok?" I glared at him.

"Of course Regulus. Matthew was just extra annoying today. You should know what that's like." He laughed and shook his head.

"Feisty today." I didn't respond and just looked out the window. Before long we were boarding the train and off to London. We spent the ride laughing and joking, but I was wishing I could be with Remus in his compartment. We pulled into the station and quickly got off the train. I waved goodbye to Regulus and Narcissa and headed over to my parents. My father grabbed my arm and we apparated back to our house.

"Go freshen up for dinner. We're having company." This was the only thing my father said before he left to go to his study. My mother nodded in my direction before she turned and went to do who knows what. I sighed and climbed the stairs to my room. This was starting off to be a great holiday.

I walked back downstairs five minutes to seven. I wore a long, deep emerald dress and had my hair curled and pinned back. Dinner was never a casual affair at my house.

"Darling you look lovely." My mother said before kissing my check. I wanted to roll my eyes but resisted. "Now come along our guests are already here." No wonder my mom was acting this way. These must pretty important guests if she was acting like this. We walked down the hall and entered the dining room.

"Ah here they are. My beautiful girls. Evelyn let me introduce you…" My heart stopped. Standing in my dining room, at the head of the table, was a man that haunted my dreams. He smiled at me and stepped forward.

"How lovely to meet you finally Evelyn. Your father speaks most highly of you. He failed to mention how beautiful you were though." Lord Voldemort nodded. I dipped into a curtsey and bowed my head.

"My Lord." My breath felt shaky. I stood and smiled. "It is wonderful to finally meet you." My heart was pounding so loud I was amazed no one else could hear it. This cruel, vile man was standing in my house. I looked around the rest of the room. Regulus and his parents were there along with Narcissa and her family. "How rude of me. It's lovely to see all of you as well." I curtsied to the Blacks.

"Well let's eat." My father said smiling and ushered us all to our seats. I felt clumsy sliding into my seat between my mother and Regulus. As soon as we sat down I grabbed for Regulus's hand under the table. His grip was tight on my hand. The food was brought in by our house elves and we ate in silence for most of the dinner.

"I've heard Evelyn and Regulus are to be married one day." I almost choked. Why was Lord Voldemort bringing up my possible future marriage?

"Yes. They've always been close since childhood." My mother smiled at me. "They'll make a wonderful couple." I smiled at her.

"A wonderful pureblood couple." Mr. Black, Regulus's father, added. Lord Voldemort nodded.

"We need people like them to continue the work we are doing." He smiled and I shivered. I could only imagine the work he was doing. "And that's why I'm here. I've come to talk about you all receiving the mark." I could feel the blood draining from my face. Regulus choked on his drink. "Of course you are all still in school and with that troublesome Headmaster at the school it would be….problematic to give you the mark now. But I would like you all to join the ranks as soon as possible."

"All of them my Lord?" Narcissa's mother looked at her and her sister Bellatrix with pleading eyes.

"Now now I would never ask the ladies to do anything that would put them in harms way. We need them at home raising the next generation in the correct way. Making sure they aren't tainted with the views of mudbloods and blood traitors." He smiled. I could see the lies pouring out of his mouth. This man would do whatever he needed to get what he wanted, damn whoever died in the process.

"I would gladly die for you my Lord." Bellatrix pleaded. She was basically drooling over being in the presence of Lord Voldemort. He smiled.

"Good to know that I have such loyal followers behind me. Now I've decided that each of you will receive your mark as soon as you graduate. That way Dumbledore can't touch you. But I have a mission for you all in the meantime." Bellatrix was jumping in her seat, Regulus and Narcissa looked bored and I'm pretty sure I was sweating bullets. "I need you all, my most loyal followers, to bring more pureblood believers to the cause. We will need all of the purebloods support to reach the future we all so desire." He picked up his glass and toasted. "Those that oppose us will be dealt with swiftly." He crushed the glass in his hand. This man was insane! I wanted to get out of here but I couldn't.

As soon as our guests left I ran up to my room and locked the door. Pulling the pins from my hair I ran to my desk and pulled out parchment and a quill. I scribbled a note to Matthew and sent it with my owl. What was that? I had always known that Regulus would have to get the mark but I thought as a girl I wouldn't be put into the line of fire. And I had to get the mark as soon as I graduated? A year and a half was all I had left. Before I could get to deep in my thoughts, someone knocked on my door. I went and opened the door. My parents walked in.

"Evelyn, we are very proud of how you behaved tonight." My father smiled. It didn't reach his eyes. "But there is something else we must discuss." I nodded sitting on my bed. "Your brother is an embarrassment. He needs to be taken care of. Immediately." My mouth dropped open. They couldn't possibly mean what I thought they meant.

"And?" I asked afraid of the answer.

"And we need you to get rid of this blot on our family. It is your fault he turned out this way after all." My mother said sneering at me. These were the parents I was used to.

"Burn in hell." I said. "You think I'm going to kill my brother because he doesn't want to be like us? Maybe he doesn't want to be like us because YOU are the worst parents on the face of the planet!" I didn't see the wand, but I sure felt the spell. I fell off my bed curling up as a scream tore from my mouth. It felt like every bone in my body was on fire and I was drowning at the same time. After what felt like hours but was probably at most two minutes, my father lifted the spell.

"What did you say?" He growled. I glared up at him and spit. The spell hit me again and this time I could feel blood in my mouth from where I bit my lip. This time it lasted longer. The second my father lifted the spell my mom hit me with another. I clawed at my throat which felt like it was being crushed. My eyes watered and spots began to appear before my eyes.

"Keep your mouth shut. You will do and your father and I say." She hissed. I lay on the floor breathing heavily. My father crouched down next to my face.

"You will get rid of your brother. You will get the mark. You are a Strauss and it is what is expected of you." My father spit at me. My parents finally left slamming my door as they left. I pulled my aching body into bed and felt the tears begin to fall. Matthew was in danger…..from me.


	9. Chapter 9

Matt's POV

I sat by the fire reading a book. Christmas break was so boring. No one was here but me and Sirius. I looked up when I heard a tapping at the window. Sirius got up and opened the window. Evelynn's owl flew in and landed on the chair I was sitting in, dropping a note onto my lap. I carefully opened and read it.

Matthew,

Please be extra careful. Parents have gone even further off the deep end. I worry for your safety.

E

I jolted out of my seat. Sirius looked at me with a raised brow.

"What's going on?"

"I have to get home." I was pacing trying to think of a way to get home. Sirius chuckled.

"Why would you want to go home?" He looked up from his magazine.

"Because E is in trouble!" I know that she didn't say it in the note but I knew something was wrong. "I knew I shouldn't have let her go home alone." I wanted to bang my head against something. How could I be so stupid?

Sirius picked up the note and read it. "This doesn't say she's in trouble. It says you are."

"I know my parents. They're probably beating the shit out of her right now!" Sirius's eyes looked at me with disbelief. "Look I know you don't like her, but she's my sister. And I know that you might not believe me, but she's probably hurt." My eyes were pleading. "Please help me help her."

Sirius placed a hand on my shoulder to stop my pacing. "Matt, there's no way to get to her now. If what you're saying is true, this isn't the first time they've hurt her. She has a way to deal with it. We can't help her." My hands clenched into fists and I shoved him away.

"YOU AREN'T EVEN TRYING!" I yelled at him. "You hate her! What do you care if she's laying somewhere hurt? But I care! I care that every time my parents lifted a hand to me, she pushed me out of the way and took the punishment herself. I care because she took the blame for every little thing I did that my parents hated. I care because she doesn't give a shit if she gets hurt as long as I'm ok. So if you aren't going to help me save her, I'll do it myself. But I thought that maybe as MY friend you'd help me." I stormed out of the common room and up the stairs to my room. I slammed the door and slid down it. I wanted to scream. Why would no one help my sister?

Remus's POV

My body ached. The change over break had been hard without my friends around to help me. Even though I was sore all over I was excited to get back to the castle. This time apart from Evelynn was harder than I anticipated. I scanned the platform and still didn't see her. I weakly hugged my parents goodbye and boarded the train. I found a compartment and settled in with a book.

"Hey Moony!" James slid into the compartment smiling. "How was your break? Have a happy Christmas?"

"Yea it was good. How was yours?" That was all it took to have him launching into a long story about his break and his parents. I smiled and nodded, enjoying hearing about my friend's normal life. Sometimes I was jealous and wished my life could be simple like his. But I know that that will never happen. I glanced out the window and saw Evelynn quickly boarding the train, making it right before the train lurched forward and started the journey back to school.

"Excuse me James. I'll be right back. Bathroom." I jumped out of my seat and hurried down the hallway. I didn't know where she usually sat on the train but I just wanted to see her again. I saw her ahead of me in the nearly empty hallway. Walking as fast as I could without actually running, I caught up to her and basically pushed her into the bathroom. I locked the door and pulled her into my arms. I knew I was overreacting, it had only been two weeks after all, but I had missed being able to hold her in my arms. She didn't relax into me though. I pulled back and looked at her, brushing some hair from her face.

"What's wrong?" I asked. She was so stiff. When I looked closer, I could also see bags under her eyes carefully concealed with makeup and she seemed paler than I remembered.

"Nothing. I'm fine. I just wasn't expecting to be pushed into bathroom." She forced a smile on her face and placed her arms around me. "I missed you." I wrapped my arms around her, but she still wasn't relaxing.

"You know you can tell me anything right?" I murmured into her hair. She nodded and pulled back.

"I know." She lifted on her toes and placed a light kiss on my lips. "Just not here. Not now." She squeezed my shoulders, unlocked the door, and left. I headed back to my compartment feeling no better than I had when I left. What had happened to Evelynn over break?

Evelynn's POV

I jolted awake gasping for breath. I was covered in sweat and tangled in my sheets. I pushed my hair back from my face and tried to slow my heart. I glanced at my clock and saw that it was barely four in the morning. I leaned back against my headboard holding my head in my hands. The same nightmare I'd been having for the last week had ruined my night yet again. I sighed and got up, heading for the bathroom. There was no point trying to sleep anymore. I turned the shower on as hot as I could and stepped under the spray.

Every time this dream rocked me to my core. In it I was covered in blood all alone in the dark. When I tried to call out, a spotlight would shine down on a body. I would rush forward and turn the face to me. Then I would stare into the open, lifeless eyes of Matthew. I would scream and push away as his corpse would whisper 'why?' Then he would turn into Remus before my eyes, then Regulus. All of the people I love would be dead asking me why. I would try to wipe the blood off of me and the harder I tried the more blood would appear. Finally I would clear away some of the blood from my arm, only to stare at the dark mark printed on my skin. Then a cold white hand would grab my shoulder and I would turn and stare into the blood red eyes of Voldermort. His fingers would dig into my skin and pull me back into the darkness with him. And no matter how hard I try to fight, I always end up swallowed by the shadows.

I tried to shake the chill from my body as I scrubbed away the last thoughts of my dream. Instead I thought of the happier, even if not by much, subject of Remus. He could tell something was wrong, but I had no idea how to tell me. What could I say? Oh hey my parents are crazy and they want me to kill my brother. And to make it even better I'm going to be getting the dark mark when I graduate. So if you don't want to stay with me I understand. Yea because that would be a great conversation.

I got out of the shower and took extra time getting ready. When my makeup was prefect and my hair was done, I quietly left the dorm and started toward the great hall. Before I even made it out of the dungeons, I ran into Matthew. He looked at me before pulling me into a bone crushing hug.

"I'm so sorry." He whispered brushing my hair. Then, holding me at arm's length he checked my body for scratches or bruises even though he knew there wouldn't be any. "Are you ok?"

"Of course." I said smiling at his concerned look. "You know they would never hurt me and leave a mark." I hooked arms with him and began my walk again. "Any respectable pureblood woman has no blemishes." He looked at me sadly but didn't say anything. We continued in silence to breakfast, both knowing the dirty secrets we were hiding.


	10. Chapter 10

The first week back from break was a whirlwind. Classes, homework, patrols, trying to see Remus, and the lack of sleep from my nightmares were making this the longest week of my life. I could tell that Matthew was still concerned about me and Remus was worrying about me as well. And my lack of sleep wasn't exactly making me the nicest person ever.

"YOU IDIOT!" I screeched. My incompetent potions partner shrank away from me. I wanted to hurl everything within reach at him. Our potion had exploded because he added the fly wings to early. I grabbed my bag and stormed out of the classroom. I was muttering under my breath about stupid people and breeding laws that should be implemented when I ran into a solid body.

"Watch where you're going Strauss. You might end up hurting a real human being." Sirius glared down at me as he helped Remus to his feet. I glared and grabbed my things shoving them back in my bag.

"If you were any kind of decent human being Black you would have helped me up as well. But you aren't so move out of my way." I shoved by them both just wanting to be alone. I turned when I heard footsteps follow me.

"Here." Remus said holding out some parchment I had missed when I got my things off the floor. I snatched it from his hand and nodded leaving. My temper carried me all the way to the Slytherin common room before I collapsed on the couch. My head was pounding coming down from my burst anger. I sighed and pulled out a book. Even though I was skipping class I needed to work on some homework. I took the parchment that Remus had handed me so I could start an essay and was surprised to see a note written on what I thought had been blank parchment.

Meet me front doors 9 o'clock tonight.

A small smile spread across my face. I couldn't wait for tonight to fly by.

I tried to keep myself from running to the front doors to meet Remus. One of the first real smiles stretched across my face when I saw him waiting for me. He turned when he heard me approach and smiled back at me holding out a hand for me. I grabbed his hand and pecked his cheek.

"Hey handsome. What are we doing?" He began leading me out the doors into the cold night air.

"We are going to have a date night." I giggled. Usually our 'dates' were patrols. It was really the only time we got to see each other.

"And is this date us freezing our asses off?" I could see my breath in front of my face. He laughed.

"No. Just trust me." He smiled at me and squeezed my hand. My heart fluttered a little. It was strange because I did trust him. I followed him as he led me to a tree by the lake. Spread out was a blanket with a picnic basket. The closer we got to the blanket the warmer it got.

"My my nice use of a warming charm." I smiled at him as I sat down. He sat beside me and pulled out some things from the basket. I laughed when I saw chocolate chip cookies and mugs full of hot chocolate. "Thank you." I took my cup and let the warm liquid warm me even more.

"I just figured we both needed some time together." He pulled me closer and kissed the top of my head. I nuzzled in. This was just what I needed. We sat talking for a little while, Remus slowly rubbing small circles on my back. But of course, even here, the joy couldn't continue.

"Are you ready to talk about what happened over Christmas break?" Remus asked. I instantly went ridged.

"What does it matter? What happened happened and now it's in the past." I said sitting up and putting distance between us.

"I want to help you Evelynn. But I can't help you if I don't know what's wrong." Remus's eyes were pleading with me. I wanted to be able to tell him everything, but I also didn't want to put this burden on his shoulders.

"How can you help fix the past Remus? You can't. So leave it alone." I leaned in and kissed him hoping to distract him from this. But he placed his hands on my shoulders and pushed me back.

"Something happened and you aren't over it. Let me help you."

"I'm fine Remus. Perfectly fine so please drop this."

"You're not fine. You aren't over it. I can see the bags under your eyes. You're short tempered and tired. You don't have to do everything alone." He grabbed my hand begging me to let him in. I stood up and turned to leave.

"I don't know why you have to keep pushing this. But when you realize you can't help, we can talk again." I stormed off. I made it about half-way back to the castle before he caught up to me.

"I'm not going to drop this. I'm here Evelynn. Nothing you tell me could make me like you less or think less of you. I'm not going anywhere. Let me in." I stared at him. He didn't know what he was saying. He couldn't. The absurdity of the situation made me laugh. I tried to stop it but the laughter bubbled up and escaped my lips. I must have looked insane. I felt insane.

"Oh really? Nothing I could say? What if I told you that my parents blame me for how my brother turned out? What if I told you I took EVERY punishment they tried to give him and got plenty of my own? And I don't mean time outs or spankings. I mean hours of the worst pain you can image. You think of spell I've probably experienced it. And I would do it all again to keep Matthew safe. But it's all shot to hell because my insane parents want me to get rid of the problem I created. They want me to end Matthew. Like he's a bad habit and not my brother. So please PLEASE tell me how you are going to fix any of that." At some point my laughter had turned to sobs and I couldn't stop. I wrapped my arms around myself and fell to the ground. It felt like I couldn't catch my breath; like I was holding myself together with threads. "I don't know how to save him anymore. I…I'm so afraid that…that it'll be my fault he gets hurt. I'm not good like him. And…and I've always known that. It's fine. I just want him to be safe and I don't know what to do."

I felt Remus sit beside me and slowly pull me into his lap. I was shaking from the cold or from the tears I don't know. I felt like I could breathe easier with his arms around me but I couldn't stop the tears.

"Shhhhh….it's ok. You don't have to carry this all alone. Matt wouldn't want you to put yourself in danger for him." I glared at him through my tears. "I know you want to save him but he's a big boy. You've done all you can. Maybe what's best for both of you is getting out of that house. But I know that I can't even begin to understand what you've been through. But I'm not going anywhere. It's time someone took care of you for a change." I wanted to believe him. I wanted to believe that Matthew and I could both get away and that maybe now someone would take care of me.

I looked at him. And I mean really looked at him. I saw the most genuine eyes I've ever seen. In that moment, the look on his face told me everything I needed to know about him. He would help me in any way he could. He would fight for me or with me. And he wouldn't judge me for my dark family or anything I did. My heart swelled and I wrapped my arms around him. I slid my hands up and into his hair pulling his face to mine.

I missed the feel of his lips on mine. His taste overwhelmed my senses as I pushed him back onto the grass. His hands slid up my sides pulling me closer to him. I fit perfectly against him. When we broke apart for air I leaned my forehead against his and closed my eyes.

"Thank you." I whispered. What I was thanking him for, I'm not exactly sure. But I know that I'm grateful that Remus Lupin came into my life when he did.

Third Person POV

Standing by a window in one of the towers of the castle, a figure watched as two teenagers stood up and brushed themselves off. The two teens then walked hand in hand back inside and disappeared from the figure's view. A sigh escaped their lips and the figure shook his head. He turned and headed back to his common room to make a plan on how to fix the mess that was going to happen if this relationship continued.


End file.
